Make Do and Mend Together: A Patchwork of Solutions Exhibit
Mending broken pieces together might never bring back its originality. But beyond originality, there lies happiness, which could be brought by togetherness, if we work on it. And who knows, maybe, the broken pieces mend together to form a new piece of art.
About the Exhibit
CHE’s Green Ambassadors are curating, “Make Do and Mend Together: A Patchwork of Solutions,” a virtual upcycling/recycling exhibit for 2021. This is based upon the World War II concept of, “Make Do and Mend.” The theme this year reflects how we have made do and coped during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The exhibit was organized and curated by members of the Cornell College of Human Ecology’s Green Ambassadors: Carol Barsody, Madjabi Castrejon, Katarina Goodge, Laura Libert, Nikita Sajai, and Karen Steffy. The team met in early spring to propose a theme and put out a call for art to the Cornell community, as well as local artists. This year, we received a wonderful array of submissions illuminating each designer’s interpretation of the theme.
Due to the pandemic, the team decided it would be best to safely showcase the exhibit, virtually. Artists submitted images of their repurposed work, which have been placed in the e-gallery below, along with a description. We hope you enjoy the creative work of our contributors and, please, consider sharing this exhibit widely.
Art Sculptures
"Box Rocks" - Dr. Adam Anderson
Recycled delivery cardboard boxes and paper-mâché from take-out paper napkins brushed in gesso. (Note: Scale floor tiles are 8 inches)
“Thought nest” - Dr. Adam Anderson
Recycled x 2 sculpture. Recycled cut-offs from cardboard box recycled sculpture. This was constructed while listening to two Cornell academics chatting about the nature of thought.
Bags
"upcycled work" - Lucia Guardone
Bags were knitted with plastic bags. In one of the pictures, you can see part of the process. This is a great product to show a way of recycling/reusing!
"From Tees to Totes" - Indira White
This cloth is made from old and retired t-shirts by cutting up the material into yarn (1/4-1/2” strips) and weaving it in a loom. The result is a one-of-a-kind, thick cloth, which I then sew up into tote bags. No two bags are the same, and each bag gives new life to 3-4 retired garments! I often use retired denim to make straps and interior pockets. On average, it takes 8-10 hours to make one bag, but the creative and repurposing processes are so rewarding!
Clothing
"Warm Friend in a Pandemic" - Dr. Susan P. Ashdown
What can one do when a favorite item of clothing – a gift from a loved parent, an echo of my body from having been worn so long, a vest that keeps me warm indoors and outdoors – begins to show its age.
What can one do when going shopping for clothing is a danger – a threat to myself, a threat to a vulnerable husband, an action against the public good – and not a favorite activity in the best of times.
What can one do when one’s life goes online – online orders of groceries, online searches for the right o-ring for a repair project, online visits to library sites to borrow books – until the thought of searching for one more thing through the computer is painful.
Can I ignore the bits of insulation peeking through the worn fabric? After all, nobody sees me except my husband and he doesn’t care. But how can I treat a friend like this, ignoring the growing shabbiness?
So out comes needle and thread, scraps of retro-reflective fabric from old projects, patterns made from leaves picked up on masked walks through the neighborhood. The television keeps me company evening after evening as the worn places are covered with hand-sewn and embellished bits of care and love, stitch by stitch. Soon all the worn places are covered – but there is always one more piece to add.
It is not a work of art – the placement of motifs driven not driven by a planned aesthetic – but by the happenstance of a rubbed area at counter height; by a chance-met thorn. But it is an old friend loved and cherished, restored by the work of my hands. A warm pandemic friend.
"Fashion Draping Project 2.0: Collaborative Design" - FSAD 2640, Spring 2021
The concept draws inspiration from artworks at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art and materials readily available in storage, recycled (not purchased), and minimizing waste, students worked in teams to design and make an ensemble consisting of at least two pieces. Each team member took primary responsibility for one of the pieces yet worked collaboratively throughout the project, each lending their individual aesthetic and technical skills to the outcome.
Students/Designers/Collaborators:
- Catherine K. Blumenkamp, Instructor
- Kat O. Roberts, Teaching Assistant
- Andrea Cheon
- Nadine El Nesr
- Beckett Fine
- Charlotte Gillis
- Sara Handerhan
- Georgiana Katsingris
- Sarah Kim
- Angela Lan
- Ashlyn Lee
- Maisie McDonald
- Daniel Moran
- Paloma Prestamo
CHEON
X
HANDERHAN
EL NESR
X
KATSINGRIS
FINE
X
MCDONALD
GILLIS
X
PRESTAMO
LAN
X
MORAN
LEE
X
KIM
"Puffer vests" - Dr. Denise Green
This is a new collection of puffer vests I’ve been working on using food waste for contact dyeing.
"In Unholy Matrimony " - Yvonne Schichtel
Reworked, upcycled socks and undergarments from childhood. Garment explores traditional ideals of purity and innocence in regard to marital norms.
"Frozen" - Rebecca Woodie
This piece is made of scrap fabrics from fashion projects (not just my own but many throughout the fashion design studios), scrap spring steel, cardboard, and leftover clay.
"The Mushroom Shirt" - Rebecca Woodie
This piece has a pair of pants and a half skirt to go with it, but the shirt is what I would highlight because it is made from the sleeves of an old felted sweater (three sleeves) and second-hand embroidery floss. Some of the embroidery floss was given to me by someone who didn't intend to embroider anymore and the rest by my mom who hasn't embroidered in many years. It was inspired by the bridal veil mushroom.
Furniture
"Better than Yesterday" - Michele Baran
I have been spending a lot of time this past year exploring older items of beauty and craftsmanship that are being discarded and forgotten. I've been tracking some down, giving them a new life, and bringing them back out for use. It is enjoyable, sustainable, and beautiful, so there is truly no downside.
Jewelry
"Untitled, 2020" - Kat Roberts
This round braided necklace was created with brass hardware and the remnants of a beloved pair of jeans. One of the reasons I love this piece is because it is emblematic of my long-time upcycling practice. Though I have come to associate upcycling with sustainability, when I first began engaging in this work it was more rooted in sentimentality. To reimagine a once-loved possession in a new form was to keep some of its magic around for a bit longer. Even though this denim has now been transformed from apparel to an accessory, my original connection to the material remains.
Mask
"Flamingo & Co. Mask Series" - Jenny Leigh Du Puis
Beaked mask and 3 daily wear face masks
Printed and batiked quilter’s cotton, cotton batting, stretch denim.
We are surrounded by masks – as a protective accessory, face masks are an essential part of daily life. Inspired inform by the beaked Plague Doctor masks of the 14th-16th centuries, the Flamingo & Co. Mask series was designed in an artistic response to the COVID-19 crisis. The Plague Doctor’s beaked mask represents an iconic symbol of health crises past and present, and the accompanying collection of everyday-styled masks represent the objects we wear on our faces out in public life. These items were created from a stash of fabric scraps leftover from the artist’s creation of hundreds of face masks donated to health care workers during the early months of the pandemic. These scraps were pieced together to create fabric yardage, then cut and assembled into subsequent artistic face masks until the scraps were used up. The masks are lined in stretch denim with a layer of batting in between, and the Flamingo mask is hand-quilted, representing the handmade labor behind all the masks made by home stitcher volunteers who were called upon to put their skill sets to critical use.
Flamingo Mask
Mask 1
Mask 2
Mask 3
Pillows
"Turned Pillows" - Dr. Corinna Loeckenhoff
After 20+ years of service, these silk pillows, made by my late mother-in-law, had reached the end of the line. Not ready to let them go, I turned them inside out, salvaged a panel from each pillow, and framed them into new black covers. Now they’re ready to shine for another two decades.
original pillows
turned pillows
Quilts
"assortment of quilts" - Dr. Magdalen Lindeberg
I am a planner by nature – in life and in art, and my wall quilts are typically the product of drawings and fabric intentionally purchased for the project. This past year, with so much planning energy going to my other work, I found a particular reward in sewing together scraps from my sewing room floor. I also see these as metaphors for reassembling life and connection post-COVID.
(quilt titles from left to right) - "Let us all dance together when this ends", "Memorial window",
"Out of the woods and water we come", and "Summer block party"
"Spring Renewal in Color" - Lauri H. Whatley
From scraps of fabric from various projects through the years, made a colorful lap quilt for my Mother. The front of the quilt is a disappearing nine-patch design and the back is a subdued patchwork of spring pastel colors with a heart tucked in.
left -front of the quilt, right - back of the quilt
Toys
"Patches the Teddy Bear" - Jenny Leigh Du Puis
Printed quilter’s cotton, grosgrain ribbon, plastic buttons, fiberfill stuffing.
"Patches the Teddy Bear" was created from scraps leftover from hundreds of homemade masks made for family members during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. These scraps were assembled as fabric yardage, then cut and sewn together to create the bear. The neck ribbon and button eyes are supplies leftover from the creation of hundreds of “ear savers”, pieces of ribbon with buttons sewn to each end that is worn on the back of the head to help alleviate mask strap tension on the ears.
